Chapter Fifteen

Edward was in the infirmary when I got to work. Dr. Snow wasn't back from sick leave yet. The warden just informed me that a new temporary doctor would be coming in during the days to work with me. I was fine with that, so long as the new doctor was as nice as Dr. Snow.

"Good morning." Edward grinned as I walked in. He had his breakfast tray on the table and his commissary food beside it.

"Good morning, Acorn," I grinned widely, which made the grin on Edward's face drop.

He looked up at me with wide eyes. "Why did you call me that?"

My smile widened. "Your mother told me that was your childhood nickname."

"Oh my god," He said, his face turning beet red. I couldn't stop my laughter. "When did she tell you this?"

"Yesterday at lunch."

"You and my mother went to lunch?" He asked. "What else did she tell you?"

"She told me about Farrah, the girl you were absolutely in love with."

"Jesus Christ, shoot me now." He said shaking his head. "When did you and my mother decide to go to lunch?"

"It honestly wasn't planned. I swear." I chuckled. "We ran into each other yesterday when I finished shopping."

"And she just invited you to lunch?" He said, raising one eyebrow in suspicion. "Sounds suspicious."

"I swear it was. She was supposed to go to lunch with your father, but he had to cancel because of an emergency meeting. She was getting ready to go home but then we bumped into each other, and she made me go with her."

"Ah," He nodded, his face turning red again. "Did she tell you anything else?"

"No, that's it." I smiled. "I'm going to start calling you acorn now."

"Please, please don't." He begged. "Did she… tell you why she called me acorn?"

My smile got even wider. "Oh yeah."

"Jesus," He said, tipping his head back. "If I hang myself in my cell tomorrow, it is because of you. I will name check you in my suicide letter."

I laughed. "No need to kill yourself. I know you've outgrown the nickname."

He pretended to clutch his pearls. "You watching the security videos in the shower? Well, nurse Swan I did not expect you to be the type."

I rolled my eyes. "No, I haven't watched those videos. I almost threw up when I found out they film you guys in the shower."

"Imagine having to be the one that has to shower," He said.

"You got me there."

"Now tell me how you know I've outgrown that god awful nickname?"

"When I went to your apartment that one day and I found the box of extra-large condoms in your nightstand. Along with your porn magazines."

"Hey, I'm a man. I have needs," He chuckled before grinning. "And were you impressed?"

"I was. Until I realized that you have enough money to probably pay for a penis expansion surgery."

"It is all-natural baby," He said. "The only work I've ever had done were my teeth. I invested a pretty penny into my teeth, but that's all the work I've had done. No penis expansion here."

"You do have very beautiful teeth. I'll give you that." I said. "But unfortunately, I can't believe you about the penis expansion. I'd have to actually see your penis to judge whether you've had surgery, or you were just really lucky when puberty hit you."

"You wanna see my penis?" He grinned, leaning back, and gesturing to himself.

I snorted. "No, I do not need to see your penis. I'm just teasing you."

He chuckled and reached for his peanut butter sandwich. I grabbed a takeout box from my bag.

"Do you want some of this instead? I brought extra." I said as I laid the food in front of him. "Your mom ordered the entire menu for me to try and had them bag everything up for me to take home. I think she told them to give me extra food too. I won't be able to eat it all before it goes bad."

"Thank you," he said as he opened the box. "She most certainly did order you extra food. My mother is obsessed with feeding people. If she takes people to lunch then she's ordering extra for them."

"See, I'd think she was an almond mom." I said, remembering how little she ate at the restaurant.

"An almond mom?"

"You know, a mom who's obsessed with eating healthy and forces her kids to eat just as little and as healthy as she does."

"Oh no, not at all," He shook his head. "Every family function has more food than anyone can eat. Plus, she loves cooking and taking care of us."

"I'm not going to lie Edward; she makes me feel really bad for her." I said. "Do you want me to heat that up for you?"

"No, it's fine cold," He said. "She makes you feel bad for her? Why?"

"She's so sad and lonely. She let some things slip about your grandmother hating her and being very critical of her. And she told me a little bit about her childhood, which was really sad. I thought the whole money doesn't buy happiness thing was a lie, but your mother has money, and she is not happy at all. She's very sad."

He frowned softly. "She's not usually so down in the dumps. Her life is very hard to describe. I know she lived under a microscope, and she had to constantly be at her best. And my grandmother is a mean, miserable bitch who is weirdly obsessed with my father. No one was ever going to be good enough for him. Plus she's one of those women who doesn't like other women because of the competition. We do our best to keep visits with her short."

"Well, when you get out of here, you need to take her to do more things."

"Don't worry, things will go back to normal once I'm out of here," He said. "She's not usually like this. I swear. She's a lot happier and she does a lot more. But this situation is hard for her."

"Yeah, you said that," I said as I took a bite of my food. "She's so sweet, I almost want to go punch your grandmother for being so mean to her."

He nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, gram's a bitch."

A young man with sandy-blond hair walked in, wearing a white lab coat over his slacks and black shirt. I got to my feet, wiping my mouth as quickly as I could.

"Hello," I said, walking towards him. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm Dr. Riley Biers," he said as he placed his items down. "I'm taking over for Dr. Snow."

"Oh yeah, someone mentioned that a new doctor would be coming in. I just didn't know you'd be here today. Welcome—,"

"Why is that inmate here?" He interrupted.

"Oh, that's Edward, he's—,"

"Why is he in here?" Riley demanded, interrupting me again. "Where is the P.O.? He's not allowed to be in here without one. Why is he eating that?"

"Edward takes a medication that he has to have with food. The medication affects his motor skills so when he takes it, he has to come in here and sleep until the effects ware off." I said slowly, getting annoyed at Riley's tone. Be nice Bella.

"Did you bring him that meal?" Riley asked as he looked at the takeout and the uncovered silver tray.

"I had extra. The prison food—,"

"No, that is not allowed," Riley said as he grabbed the takeout container from Edward and threw it into the nearby garbage can. "You cannot share unauthorized food with the prisoners. I'm going to have to write you up for that."

My eyebrows shot up and I had to work very hard to control my tone. I licked my lips. I didn't know that was a rule. I had seen Dr. Snow share various food with inmates he liked, so I didn't think sharing with Edward was such a big deal.

"Edward gets very ill when he eats the food here." I said slowly. "So I gave him my extra takeout so he will be able to take his medication."

"He has bread and peanut butter. He doesn't need your pity, he's an inmate. If you gave him something he was allergic to that wasn't authorized by the prison, you could lose your license." Riley said as he crossed his arms. "Has he had his medication yet?"

"Not yet, he hasn't finished—,"

"Eat." Riley said to Edward before snapping his fingers at the food.

Edward looked pretty pissed off at this point. I could see his fists shaking under the table and his green eyes filled with anger. I was worried for Riley's safety. Edward was a lot bigger than he was and I bet Riley didn't spend four hours a day working out.

"Call a P.O. now. Someone has to be in here when an inmate is in here. Did you know that?"

"We're understaffed, so they usually leave the nonaggressive inmates here," I said as I leaned against the counter.

"That does not matter," Riley said. "A P.O. needs to be in here when there is an inmate being treated. Nonaggressive or not, there needs to be one. What is his full name?"

"Edward Cullen." Edward growled before taking a large bite out of his sandwich.

Riley typed it into the computer before shaking his head and looking at me. "What is your name?"

"Bella Swan," I said in the same clipped tone.

"I have to log in and call the hospital," Riley reached into his bag and pulled out a mug. "Will you go get me some coffee? I don't know where the machine is. Two creams. And could you bring me three packets of Splenda, don't put it in the cup yet, I want to measure it out myself."

I stared down at the mug he had shoved into my hands. I slowly looked up at him before holding his mug back out to him.

"The coffee maker is in the main building in the breakroom. It's very easy to find."

"How about we make a deal? I won't write you up for giving the inmate unauthorized food and for taking a break when it is not your breaktime if you go get me a cup of coffee." Riley said.

I took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll do it after I give Edward his medication."

"I'll do it." Riley said. "Thank you, for getting my coffee."

Riley turned back to the computer and my eyes connected with Edward. He was glaring hatefully at the back of Riley's head as he ate. Hopefully Edward doesn't kill Riley when I go.

"Tell a P.O. to get in here as well," Riley said.

"Of course," I said, trying not to hiss.

As I walked away, I heard Riley mutter something about nurses with attitude problems. I rolled my eyes.

What an asshole. He waltz in and starts barking at me, then threatens to write me up. He was not my boss, Dr. Snow was… well, now that I thought about it, I guess he was technically my temporary boss. Fuck.

"You need this job Bella," I whispered to myself as I made his coffee. "Don't be a bitch. Just suck it up."

I wanted to spit in his coffee as I walked back to the infirmary. Hopefully he lost his attitude and decided to be a more pleasant person.

"Here," I said as I put the coffee down on the computer table. Riley was digging through the cabinets. I looked at Edward.

"He can't find the medication." Edward said smugly.

"Quiet." Riley snapped before looking at me. "Where is his medication?"

I walked to the mini fridge where I had been keeping Edward's medicine. Riley huffed in annoyance.

"His medication does not say it needs to be refrigerated." Riley said as he came dangerously close to almost snatching the bottle out of my hand when he took it from me.

"No it doesn't but I keep it in there because it helps reduce the side effects." I said as I watched him open the medicine bottle.

"Take this." Riley snapped, dropping the pill in front of Edward.

Edward stared at it. "You expect me to dry swallow this after eating peanut butter?"

Riley rolled his eyes before looking at me. "Get him water."

I thought you wanted to administer his medicine, part of that is getting the patient a drink so he could easily swallow the damn pill. Asshole.

I gave him a cup of water. "Here Edward."

"Thank you so much Nurse Swan," Edward said as he took the water then his medicine without complaint. "You are such a wonderful caregiver. Thank you for your kindness."

"Of course," I said as I pulled out my stethoscope to listen to his heart.

"You need to start sorting the medicine for the med drop." Riley sighed.

"Do you want to start it?" I asked, resisting the urge to tell him he needed the practice.

"I can't. I have to go meet with the warden. Then I have a meeting with the hospital. I will be back here soon. Please try not to have any inmates in here without a P.O."

"Sure." I said as I opened the door so Edward could lay down.

As soon as Riley walked out, Edward looked at me and said. "What a fucking asshole."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I can't believe that guy is going to be my temporary boss. I need to call Dr. Snow and see if he's okay."

"He's your boss?" Edward asked as he laid down on the bed. "He's an idiot. You want me to—,"

"Nothing. I don't want you to do anything." I said as I handed him the thin blanket. "I'm fine. I can survive an asshole for a little while."

"You shouldn't have to put up with that shit." Edward yawned.

I chuckled. "It's fine. Just go on to sleep."